Two chicken stock recipes to make forever

Plus: Save the date for a live(!) Thanksgiving Q&A later this week

Greetings from Denver, CO, where I am still recovering from my sister’s wedding this past weekend. A future post is forthcoming about all the details of how I made and flew the wedding cake(s) to Denver from NYC, but for now, please enjoy this visual of the cutting cake, which was the smaller cake they used for photos, etc.:

Now that I’m catching a moment to breathe, today I give you recipes for two different chicken stocks that will keep your bones warm from now through next spring, in honor of my favorite season (soup) and eating holiday (Thanksgiving).

Over the last 10-ish years, I’ve perfected my platonic ideal chicken stock, dialing in on such myriad factors as my preferred aromatics (no garlic! Controversial! Sue me!) and the ideal simmering time (four hours or more, which according to The Food Lab extracts maxXxxxXxx collagen aka gelatin aka the stuff that skincare girlies put in smoothies that taste like butt but that also gives well-made chicken stock that JIGGLE FACTOR.)

If you don’t already, I *highly* encourage you to get in the practice of keeping a resealable gallon-size freezer bag of chicken parts in the freezer. Anything goes: wings, necks and backs, picked-over rotisserie chicken carcasses, feet, raw, cooked, whatever. When the bag is full, you can chuck it all into a big pot directly from the freezer. I almost never buy any chicken parts specifically to make stock except for inexpensive feet, which I like to get at Prospect Butcher Co. in Prospect Heights and which add lots of gelatin aka body. Sometimes you can get great deals on packaged chicken necks and backs at the supermarket, which would be great to keep in the freezer for just this occasion. The tldr here is that you absolutely do not need to spend a lot of money to make great stock.

See: ^ The jiggle factor.

Making a big pot of stock is typically the first item on my Thanksgiving prep road map, as it makes the house smell fantastic, makes me feel productive, and puts me in The Mood for all the dishes yet to come that make use of said stock, namely stuffing, gravy, and buttery glazed shallots.

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The Forever Chicken Stock is a version of the stock I’ve been making for a decade. It’s deliciously savory and complex, full-bodied, rich with collagen, and is the stock equivalent of all-purpose flour: Use it as the base of soups, for making bowls of brothy beans, or in stews and braises. If you’ve ever been skeptical of whether homemade stock is, in fact, all that, make this your first foray.

The Rich Chicken Stock is a more robustly flavored stock that’s lip-smackingly rich and is my stock of choice for Thanksgiving gravy, extra-flavorful stuffing, and luscious pan sauces. This method is known as a “double stock” or fortified stock, in which you use stock as the base instead of water. For this recipe, I deeply brown chicken wings and aromatics and then simmer them in a batch of the Forever Chicken Stock until the whole pot tastes like a bronzed rotisserie chicken in liquid form. It’s a treat unto itself when piping hot, well-seasoned, and sipped slowly out of a mug.

Also, a little announcement: save the date and prepare your cooking questions for a LIVE Thanksgiving Hotline on Wednesday 11/15 from 2-3pm ET/11am-12pm PT. This will be a live Q&A with myself and five other fabulous food folks whose Substacks you should absolutely be reading:

Ali Slagle

of 40 Ingredients Forever,

Caroline Chambers

of What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking,

Jenny Rosenstrach

of Dinner: A Love Story,

emily nunn

of The Department Of Salad, and

Colu Henry

of Colu Cooks.

We’ll be having a casual text/chat conversation on Notes, where we’ll be answering your questions about menu planning, cooking turkey, perfecting pie crust, table settings, timing, and whatever else you want to ask us about. It will be fun! You can register for the event here to get an email notification and a link to the Note when the chat gets started.

Hope to see you then!

-Chaey

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Unsurprisingly, Forever Chicken Stock makes tremendous chicken soup

Forever Chicken Stock
Makes about 10 cups or 2½ quarts
Total time: About 4½ hours

The one thing I will say about this recipe, and about all meat-based stocks, is that I’ve tried at various times to rush it and it simply never turns out right. Stocks need many hours to fully develop their flavor and body, so save this for a leisurely afternoon or evening spent at home when you don’t have competing plans. Turn on a movie and be prepared to check on it every 30 minutes or so to monitor the heat; if the stock comes to a hard boil, it will become cloudy and taste unpleasantly of grease. I almost always purposely under season my chicken stock in case I need to reduce it later, which will concentrating the salty flavor.

Ingredients
4 lbs. chicken parts (preferably a mix of carcasses, necks, backs, wings, and feet) or one 4-lb. chicken (if using a whole chicken, see note below)
1 large onion, unpeeled, halved
1 leek, halved, cleaned
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
A small handful of fresh parsley sprigs
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Special equipment: An 8-quart stockpot or larger. (If you have a smaller pot, e.g. a 5.5-quart Dutch oven, use 3 lbs. chicken parts, 2 tsp. salt, and a few cups less water. Note that you’ll end up with less total stock.)

Note: If you’re not in the practice of saving up your chicken parts in a freezer bag, you can definitely make this stock using a whole chicken and/or supplement parts. As a bonus, you’ll get plenty of tender poached chicken meat out of the stock-making process.

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and add 16 cups of cold water (or enough to cover). Bring to a boil uncovered over medium heat, using a wide spoon or a fine-mesh sieve to occasionally skim off any gray foamy bits that float to the top. Be patient; it will take time for the stock to come up to an initial boil.

2. Once stock comes to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer (if you want a visual for what a “gentle simmer” looks like, scroll down).

3. If using chicken parts: Continue to simmer stock uncovered until reduced by about a third, another 3½–4 hours, adjusting heat occasionally to make sure stock does not come to a boil. If using a whole chicken: Continue to simmer chicken uncovered another 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165°F. Use tongs to carefully transfer chicken to a plate to cool. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, pull meat off the bones and store in an airtight container in the fridge for another use. Return chicken bones and carcass to stockpot and continue to simmer stock uncovered until reduced by about a third, another 3½–4 hours, adjusting heat occasionally to make sure stock does not come to a boil.

4. Remove stock from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve (I usually strain the stock directly into pint- and quart-size plastic deli containers); let cool then transfer to the fridge. Discard solids.

5. Once stock is fully chilled, use a spoon to scrape off the layer of fat that rises to the top. Save this golden fat in an airtight container in the fridge and use to roast potatoes or root veggies, sauté greens, or make matzo balls.

6. Do ahead: Refrigerate stock for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to six months.

Great fortified stock starts with nicely browned wings

Rich Chicken Stock
Makes about 4 cups or one quart
Total time: 1 hour

Deeply bronzed chicken wings and charred vegetables simmered in homemade chicken stock create one of the single greatest kitchen aromas. However, one great thing about fortified stock is that you can use store-bought chicken stock as the base and still obtain fabulous results. If you go for store-bought stock, be sure to buy a low-sodium version so you can season to taste. Any dry white wine (such as dry vermouth, Pinot Grigio, Vermentino, or Sauvignon Blanc) will add acidity and complexity, but water will always work fine for scraping up those all-important browned bits.

Ingredients
1 lb. chicken wings, patted dry
Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. neutral oil
1 medium onion, unpeeled, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
A small handful of fresh parsley sprigs, rosemary, thyme, and/or sage (optional)
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
½ cup dry white wine or water
6 cups Forever Chicken Stock or other homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Season chicken wings all over with salt. Heat oil in a large stockpot or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high. Add chicken wings in a single layer, working in batches if needed, and cook undisturbed until deep golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Flip wings and cook until browned on the other side, another 5 minutes.

2. Add onion, carrot, and celery to pot and cook, stirring often, until everything in the pot is deeply browned, about 10 minutes. Add herbs if using and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and use a wooden spoon or flat-bottomed spatula to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Cook until wine is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by a third and meat is falling off the bones, about 45 minutes.

3. Remove fortified stock from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and strain through a fine-meshed sieve (I usually strain the stock directly into pint- and quart-size plastic deli containers); let cool then transfer to the fridge. Discard solids.

4. Once stock is fully chilled, use a spoon to scrape off the layer of fat that rises to the top. Save this golden fat in an airtight container in the fridge and use to roast potatoes or root veggies, sauté greens, or make matzo balls.

5. Do ahead: Refrigerate stock for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to six months.

P.S. This is what I mean when I say “a gentle simmer”: